Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Mead, George Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Mead, George Herbert mēd [key], 1863–1931, American philosopher and psychologist, b. South Hadley, Mass., grad. Oberlin, 1883, and Harvard, 1888, and studied in Leipzig and Berlin. He taught at the...

Henry, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Henry, Joseph, 1797–1878, American physicist, b. Albany, N.Y., educated at Albany Academy. He taught (1826–32) mathematics and natural philosophy at Albany Academy and was professor of natural phi...

tuning systems

(Encyclopedia)tuning systems, methods for assigning pitches to the twelve Western pitch names that constitute the octave. The term usually refers to this procedure in the tuning of keyboard instruments. The need fo...

varnish

(Encyclopedia)varnish, homogeneous solution of gum or of natural or synthetic resins in oil (oil varnish) or in a volatile solvent (spirit varnish), which dries on exposure to air, forming a thin, hard, usually glo...

Catlin, George

(Encyclopedia)Catlin, George, 1796–1872, American traveler and artist, b. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Educated as a lawyer, he practiced in Philadelphia for two years but turned to art study and became a portrait painter i...

acceleration

(Encyclopedia)acceleration, change in the velocity of a body with respect to time. Since velocity is a vector quantity, involving both magnitude and direction, acceleration is also a vector. In order to produce an ...

Gansu

(Encyclopedia)Gansu or Kansu both: gänˈso͞oˈ [key], province, 141,000 sq mi (365,284 sq km), NW China. The capital is ...

blackbody

(Encyclopedia)blackbody, in physics, an ideal black substance that absorbs all and reflects none of the radiant energy falling on it. Lampblack, or powdered carbon, which reflects less than 2% of the radiation fall...

Medici, Ferdinand II de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Ferdinand II de', 1610–70, grand duke of Tuscany (1620–70); son and successor of Cosimo II de' Medici. A pupil of Galileo, he founded (1657) the Accademia del Cimento, the first European a...

Kölreuter, Joseph Gottlieb

(Encyclopedia)Kölreuter or Koelreuter, Joseph Gottlieb both: yōˈzĕf gôtˈlēp kölˈroiˌtər [key], 1733–1806, German botanist. In 1764 he became professor of natural history and director of the botanical g...